Old Mother Riley Detective

Old Mother Riley Detective is a 1943 British comedy film directed by Lance Comfort and starring Arthur Lucan, Kitty McShane and Hal Gordon.^[1] It was part of the long running Old Mother Riley series. Old Mother Riley investigates the disappearance of food during the war, a serious crime because of rationing.

Old Mother Riley Detective
Original trade poster
Directed by	Lance Comfort
Written by	Barbara K. Emary Arthur Lucan Austin Melford Geoffrey Orme
Produced by	John Baxter
Starring	Arthur Lucan Kitty McShane Hal Gordon
Cinematography	James Wilson
Edited by	E.W. White
Music by	Kennedy Russell
Production company	British National Films
Distributed by	Anglo-American Film Corporation
Release date	31 May 1943 (1943-05-31) (UK)
Running time	80 minutes
Country	United Kingdom
Language	English

Plot

The film opens with a night watchman being bludgeoned, as a safe is cracked open in the offices of the District Food Controller. A list of wartime foods to be rationed is stolen, and the police fear gangsters are planning to sell the foods on the black market. As the office charwoman, Old Mother Riley's fingerprints are all over the safe, and she becomes the police's number one suspect. To prove her innocence, Mother Riley turns detective, adopting various methods and disguises to track down the villains.^[2][3]

Cast

• Arthur Lucan as Mrs. Riley
• Kitty McShane as Kitty Riley
• Ivan Brandt as Inspector Victor Cole
• Owen Reynolds as Kenworthy
• George Street as Inspector Moresby
• Johnnie Schofield as P.C. Jimmy Green
• Hal Gordon as Bill
• Valentine Dunn as Elsie
• H. F. Maltby as H. G. Popplethwaite
• Peggy Cummins as Lily
• Alfredo Campoli as Solo Violinist

Critical reception

TV Guide wrote of the film, "a lifeless effort...The gangster premise is merely an excuse for Lucan to try out some humorous bits (in drag, of course), but the picture is too padded to hold much interest."^[4] Kinematograph Weekly noted, "one of Arthur Lucan's and the series' best efforts."^[5]